


Uncle Roger's Office

by radondoran



Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Community: disney_kink, Divorce, Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-15
Updated: 2012-04-15
Packaged: 2017-11-09 09:27:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/453940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radondoran/pseuds/radondoran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vanessa liked Uncle Roger.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Uncle Roger's Office

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the disney-kink prompt "[Why _does_ Vanessa like Uncle Roger?](http://disney-kink.livejournal.com/4400.html?thread=4501040#t4501040)".

Vanessa liked Uncle Roger. She liked it when Mom and Dad would drop her off to spend the afternoon at his office. Uncle Roger usually had a little present for her, like a new pack of crayons. His secretary always said why not just keep the same crayons, but Uncle Roger was a smart guy--he understood that half the fun of crayons was breaking them in.

Uncle Roger was a City Councilman. Vanessa wasn't really sure what that meant, but he spent a lot of time sitting at his desk, signing papers or talking on the phone or into a tape recorder. It was very different from Dad's workshop. Vanessa loved her dad, of course, but he could be kind of weird and crazy sometimes. It was hard to believe Uncle Roger was his brother. Uncle Roger was cool. Uncle Roger was _normal_. Nothing ever exploded at Uncle Roger's office.

When Mom and Dad started leaving her with Uncle Roger more often, Vanessa didn't mind. Uncle Roger didn't seem to mind either. Vanessa knew how to play quietly, and soon everyone accepted her as another presence in the office. Whenever Mom and Dad came to pick her up, Uncle Roger would lift her in his strong arms and tell her he loved her. Then he would hand her over to Mom, and they would go to the car while Dad stayed behind to talk to his brother. He always looked serious after these outings. One week Vanessa caught part of their conversation from the hallway.

"Thanks for taking her again," said Dad.

"Of course," said Uncle Roger. "Heinz, I know we've never been close--"

"You can say that again," Dad agreed.

"--but if there's anything I can do to make things easier..."

Mom and Vanessa walked out of earshot.

\---

On the day Dad moved, Vanessa stayed with Uncle Roger. They went to the park, and he bought her her own ice cream cone. While she ate it, he asked, "So what would you like to do today, Vanessa?" He said it uncertainly, like he wasn't sure how he should act in front of her.

Vanessa wasn't sure what to do either. She didn't want to play on the playground. She didn't want to walk in the woods. And she didn't want to talk about what it would be like when she came home that evening to just Mom. "I want to go to your office," she said at last.

Uncle Roger smiled. "But it's Sunday," he said. "I don't have to go to the office today. We can do whatever you want."

"I want to go to the office," said Vanessa stubbornly.

"Well, all right," said Uncle Roger.

They finished their ice cream. Uncle Roger wiped off Vanessa's face and hands, strapped her into her car seat, and drove to City Hall.

Uncle Roger unlocked the door with his key-card and shut it behind them. He swung Vanessa up into his arms and walked briskly to his office, his shoes clicking in the empty halls.

Uncle Roger turned on the lights in his office and got Vanessa's drawing pad down from the cabinet. "Look what I've got," he said, holding up a familiar yellow box. "New crayons!"

Vanessa thanked him, took the crayons, and sat down on the floor to color. Uncle Roger hesitated a moment, then sat down beside her. It didn't suit him--he was too big to sit on the floor, and his suit was going to get wrinkled. "You know," he said, "I don't have to do any work today. I could color with you. Would you like that?"

Vanessa pulled her crayons away. "No," she said. "You have to work."

Uncle Roger stood up and looked confused. "Well, I suppose I could start on that library proposal," he said, half to himself. "Would that help?"

Vanessa nodded.

Uncle Roger sat down at his desk and began to speak into his tape recorder. Vanessa listened to his smooth, regular voice and colored forcefully enough to dull the tips of the new crayons. Vanessa liked Uncle Roger. Even though things at home were getting really weird, Uncle Roger was the same as always. He was cool. He was safe. He was normal.


End file.
